I’ve watched a lot of TV shows, but none have had a soundtrack so spectacular, so wonderfully whimsical, and so genuinely creative than Cowboy Bebop. This is a soundtrack to an anime that not only matches it in terms of quality but that, in my view, could potentially be one of the all-time great jazz albums.

For someone who normally does not enjoy the unconventionality of the jazz genre, this is easily the most accessible and most fun jazz album that you’ll ever hear. From the incredibly dense musical arrangements to the majestic execution of numerous instruments, this is a soundtrack that by itself can be and should be listened to as a standalone album. It is that good that you don’t have to know anything about the source material it is supporting to be transported to the world it will deliver you to. It is seriously that good that it alone is a work of art that doesn’t need anything else around it.

This is why I have to go into hearing the tracks and give you my real-time listening feedback, thoughts and opinions on this joyous piece of work because while Cowboy Bebop has gained a significant amount of praise and attention, and rightfully so, I believe it’s imperative that for anyone interested in music and not just jazz music, that you do yourself a favour and listen to this album. This is the kind of music that makes you feel grateful to be alive and to give genuine thanks to those who have made it, and I feel like I wouldn’t be doing my justice as a critic if I didn’t talk about it or show you why.

So, please allow me to take you on a journey as we enter a space odyssey that has been beautifully arranged by the great composer Yoko Kanno.

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0:00 Introduction
1:42 Tank!
6:49 Rush
10:56 Spokey Dokey
15:29 Bad Dog No Biscuits
20:12 Cat Blues
23:17 Cosmos
25:14 Space Lion
32:31 Waltz for Zizi
36:20 Piano Black
39:54 Pot City
42:33 Too Good Too Bad
45:50 Car 24
49:00 The Egg and I
51:42 Felt Tip Pen
54:39 Rain
58:36 Digging My Potato
1:01:17 Memory

What is Cowboy Bebop?

Cowboy Bebop is a Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series which aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno, who are collectively billed as Hajime Yatate.

The series, which ran for twenty-six episodes (dubbed "sessions"), is set in the year 2071, and follows the lives of a traveling bounty-hunting crew aboard a spaceship, the Bebop. Although it incorporates a wide variety of genres, the series draws most heavily from science fiction, Western, and noir films. Its most prominent themes are existential boredom, loneliness, and the inability to escape one's past.

The series was dubbed into English by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions, and was originally licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment (and is now licensed by Crunchyroll) and in Britain by Beez Entertainment (now by Anime Limited); Madman Entertainment owns the license in Australia and New Zealand. In 2001, it became the first anime title to be broadcast on Adult Swim.

Cowboy Bebop has been hailed as one of the best animated television series of all time. It was a critical and commercial success both in Japanese and international markets, most notably in the United States. It garnered several major anime and science-fiction awards upon its release, and received acclaim from critics and audiences for its style, characters, story, voice acting, animation, and soundtrack. The English dub was particularly lauded and is regarded as one of the best anime English dubs. Credited with helping to introduce anime to a new wave of Western viewers in the early 2000s, Cowboy Bebop has also been called a gateway series for anime as a whole.

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